Sasserina

I married an Italian in Italy in 2004, and since november 2006 have been separated legally. As the italian law states that I cannot apply for divorce for another year I am interested in getting an expat divorce through the British court system: cheaper, quicker and less painful all round. The problem is that the lawyer we had for the separation has just informed me that to register the divorce in Italy you have to go to the Cprte d'Appello and it will take aournd 3000 euro more and up to one year to be valid (from the moment of registration). Does anyone have any experience of this? Is there any way of registering the divorce without going through this endless paperwork and timewasting burocracy? When i married here it was automatically valid in GB, and I never registered it. Any help and info would be greatly appreciated.
thank you in advance

37100

This is not what I have always been led to believe but I'm no expert. Where are you living at the moment and who told you this? If you can give a few more details I can ask around. Also, I think there is a european judicial web page which might help but a the moment my mind is blank to the actual name.

Sasserina

Thank you Rosalindann.
I live in the province of Pisa, but was married and legally separated in the province of Siena. I found out about the expat divorce from two separate lawyers in England, and also have had confirmation from the Italian laywer who did our separation. He is also the one who told me that to register the divorce I need to go to the Appeal Court (having got this information from some colleagues in Florence) and pay 3000 euro and wait over a year for it to be finalised and valid. However the European court seems to say different. The problem is that I have had too many experiences of Italian burocracy having loopholes and I don't want to find that I think everything's fine and then find it isn't in ten years time! But no-one seems to be able to give me a straight and simple answer, which is why I was hoping to find someone who has already been through this.
Thank you for your time - if you can ask around that would be great!

Lorna at Vicenza

I can imagine it being quicker but not cheaper surely.

A friend of mine recently went to court after the obligatory seperation period. The judge asked if there was any chance of a reconcilliation - both parties said no - and that was that. They didn't pay so much for the lawyer to go with them.

Do you need to get divorced so quickly that you can't wait for the Italian system ?
Sorry - none of my business.

Sasserina

Hi Lorna,
the reason that I would like to rush things up a bit is because I would like to get on with my life - I am thirty (so should have my life ahead of me) but can't buy a house (they have given me problems with mortgage because I am still married and therefore my ex is my legal heir) and so on, but also I would like this to be over. It was not a pleasant time at the end and I want it over. I suppose I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, with the idea of going British and then saw that it was a very complicated, and faraway light (better if I had just never found out).

However, the Italian lawyer told me that we can apply for a hearing on the 16th november this year (for Italian divorce), that we should get said hearing anytime before april 2010 and then the sentence will pass after another 6 months or so. Plus that it will cost 1500 euro (plus VAT - and that was a discounted price). Unfortunately Italian law says that yes, you can go for a divorce without a lawyer but not all tribunals accept this , and, again by law, you have to go with what the tribunal in each province says (just another way to basically say - screw you and pay up), and so we have to be accompanied by a lawyer.

However I have found a lawyer in England who will do the expat divorce for around 1000 pounds (including court fees) plus we don't have to go to the hearing (here we have to go together). All I need to find now is how to register the d*** thing if I do it like this. Am currently looking at European law which does talk about it, and will see what happens from there.....

Thank you for your help and time so far.....

Mr Posh

About registering the divorce in Italy:

A close mate of mine got married in the UK:

when he was born his parents registered him in Italy this making him Italian, he grew up got married and sent the marriage certificates to Italy making it legal in Italy: they got a divorce in the UK, BUT under the Italian Law he was still Married. All he had to do was send the Divorce papers to the comune where he was registered and thats that did not cost him a penny he is now re-married and all ok. not sure if this would apply to you AS you got married in Italy but it's worth a try before you go and spalsh out on all that money

37100

It's the corte d'appello bit I don't get. What's an appeal court got to do with it unless your OH is being difficult and at least here in Verona, it will take years as the appeal court is way behind. Wouldn't you have to move back to the uk to file a divorce there? Anyway, I'll get my son to to phone around and let you know what he comes up with.

Lorna at Vicenza

Sorry about being nosey and all that. I understand your reasons better now and I also remember my English friend saying how crappy the 3 year separation was and how it scared her because if her ex ran up any debts - went bankrupt etc she was still legally responsible.

Crazy really when you think about it ............. if you are LEGALLY separated then why ever should you still be LEGALLY responsible for what your ex does.
Madness !

jmh

Wow that is really scary. I know that in the UK once you are legally separated you are not liable for the other persons debts etc. Make more sense to me - who knows how much damage a pissed off spouse can do. Sorry I'm not suggesting you are in this position.

I hope it works out for you.

Sasserina

Thanks for the comments, support and advice...... hopefully the debts thing won't be a problem but 3 1/2 years is a long time, and my OH has his own business......
but that's not the point.
Rosalindann - to get divorced in the uk you have to prove you have "domicile" there ( complicated legal thing, not the same as residence) which I seem to have - you basically have to show that you have strong ties to the UK and intention to go back eventually (even in 30 years' time). "ties" means passport, having close family there, property or bank accounts etc., etc.
Lorna, don't worry about being "nosey" - if it weren't for the financial and inheritance thing I wouldn' t have such a problem waiting, but unfortunately this system doesn't protect you at all.
Thanks again, and if anyone has any other similar experiences, please let me know......

Sasserina

.... hopefully when all of this is over I will be able to be of help to other expats!

37100

We've had confirmation that a british divorve is recognized here. It needs to be deposited at your town hall here in Italy only if they refuse you have to go to the corte d'appello. If you tell me the name of the town were your marriage is registered we will find out their policy. As you now have 3 posts you can use private message or email if you don't want to broadcast it.

Sasserina

Rosalindann - thank you so much!
My marriage is registered in Siena. Hopefully they will accept without problem. I no longer live in Siena, but in the Province of Pisa, but in any case it should then (at the moment of registration) be nationally recognised.
thank youi again for your help, you've been fantastic!

37100

Hi sasserina, we've found someone in Siena who can tell you all the paperwork you need to gather to get your divorce registered. I'll send you her details by p.m.. She is away until the 23rd of feb and she speaks English.
You can register a u.k divorce as long as your almost ex agrees and signs any relevent documents (haven't a clue as to how a u.k. divorce works) and of course, they need to be offically translated.
As for being responsible for your oh's debts, were you in business together? Because this is not usually the case, though this is not what banks would have you believe. One bank tried to get money out of one of my oh's relations even though she had seperated and her oh had died five years previously. One thing you are responible for -and this really bugs me - is his close family if they need financial support and there is no one else to give it.:curse: